FOREST- MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

Gwen sat alone and watched her cousin walk back and forth for the hundredth time.

"Ben?" Gwen complained tiredly. He looked up and over to her. her red head hair shone in the afternoon sun. He began to pace back and forth again but only to be stopped and grabbed. "Ben?" he stared at her delicate form. He placed his hand up to her cheek causing her to wince and pull away.

"What, Gwen?" Ben asked trying not to scare her too much. "Enough pacing around. Let's go inside" Gwen practically begged. Ben sighed and looked away from her. "it's been two weeks Gwen; Two weeks" Ben shook her. Gwen looked down at him and smiled.

"It'll blow over soon, Ben" She placed a hand on his shoulder. Ben looked up to her warm smile.

He couldn't resist.

He smiled back and kissed her on the cheek.

"Okay" He gripped her by the waste and began walking into the RV.

NIGHT

"POLICE OPEN UP." A large banging on the door awaked Max. "IF YOU DO NOT OPEN UP IN THE NEXT 10 SECONDS WE WILL BE FORCED TO BREAK DOWN THE DOOR" The police warned. Max immediately got up as they started the countdown. "1" Max raced up towards his grandkids trying to awake them.

"2"

"Ben, Gwen, wake up now" Max whispered harshly.

"3"

"4"

"Ben, Gwen" Max rustled the sheets only to find stuffed pillows.

"5"

"6"

"Ben, Gwen?"

5minutes earlier.

Ben stirred in his sleep.

All the events had seemed to synchronise all at once.

All his failures were there knocking at the door. People he couldn't save. Winston, Majestor Labrith, innocent alien civilians. Ben couldn't stand it.

Sweat poured down his head until he finally woke up. He looked over to his sleeping grandpa and jumped down off the upper bunk bed. He looked back over to his sleeping cousin careful not to wake her from a gentle slumber.

He heard the sound of cars being pulled up surrounding the Rustbucket.

'Cops' Ben dashed over to his cousin and shook her roughly. "Wha… what's going on?" Gwen asked still half asleep.

"Gwen, wake up. Cops" He then duked under the bed and pulled out a duffle bag full of clothes and other equiptment then picked his cousin up and ran towards the bathroom.

"7"

"8"

Max rushed up to the door and opened it in time to see the officers boot ready to launch at the door. They immediately barged through knocking Max out of the way and searched the room.

Ben raced through the forest with his cousin fidgeting and yelling at him to let her go. "Gwen, keep your voice down"

"Then let me go"

He dropped her to the ground with an 'oof' and grabbed her wrist tightly and sprinted for it.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

"where's your grandson, Mr. Tennyson?" the police officer questioned as others looked for clues. "I don't know" Max crossed his arms. "Two beds were used. Who's the other one?" he asked stroking his grey moustache and waiting to jot down notes. "My Granddaughter" Max's eyes softened.

"How long ago did they leave?" He asked intrigued.

"I don't know, they were gone before I even woke up" Max said not in the best of tone. "Sir, the bed's are still warm" one of the police officers said. "Then they couldn't be too far. Get a dog squad out there ASAP," the man pointed towards the door.

"Ben, slow down" Gwen begged. Ben finally stopped and allowed her to lean against a tree. He then unzipped the duffle bag and placed on some trainers whilst Gwen stretched her legs. "Do you hear that?" Ben asked her. "Hear what?" a low barking of a pack of dogs could be heard no less than 120m away. "Common, Gwen" he grabbed her arm tightly and began to sprint through the mist. "BEN?" Gwen shouted out to him. "Not now, Gwen" He told her. Gwen looked back to see the now less than 20m away from them. "Ben, there gaining on us" Ben looked back to see.

'BANG'

Both teens were on the ground holding their noses after having just ran into a large solid tree. Gwen looked up to see a large German-Shepard barking at her. Drool hit her face as she was pulled off the ground and landed in the possession of a large police officer. She watched as Ben was pulled off the ground. "BEN!" Gwen screamed as they were pulled away from each other. "GWEN!" Ben screamed back to her. In an instance Gwen's eyes closed and up came a blinding light.

DESSERT

'oof' Ben and Gwen landed on the side of a desolate highway in the dessert. 'Ow' Ben arched his back and looked over towards his cousin who was face down and not moving.

"Gwen you did it" Ben grabbed her and held her.

She didn't move and it began to scare Ben.

"Gwen?" Ben shook her but she didn't answer.

Ben looked for a pulse and was relieved to find one. She was just passed out. Ben wrapped her round his shoulder and picked up his duffle bag and began walking down the highway.

Max sat in his chair awaiting an answer from Gwen to pick up her phone. Nothing. Max tried Ben's phone and heard a ring. He walked into the bathroom to find it on the side of the sink. Max sighed and ended the call.

"Where are you?"

MIDDAY

Gwen yawned exhausted from the long tiring walk. She looked over to Ben who had a cold expression apparent on his face. She gave him a little nudge as more sweat poured down her forehead.

"I think the next town is another 5 miles away," Ben informed her reading a map as she slumped. "You can't just fly us there?" Gwen asked but Ben shook his head. "If they're working with the plumbers then they'll have a trace on my ultimatrix every time I activate it" Ben told her causing her to slump more. Ben looked across at her. She was still in her pj's just like him a grey t-shirt black short similar to his except his where blue and his shirt was black.

He had shoes and she didn't.

Gwen stopped and leaned over. Ben turned back to her and placed a hand on her back. She gulped and placed her hand on his shoulder. Her eyes began to glow and in a flash they were both in the alleyway of a small town. Ben smiled and grasped his cousin's hand. She sluggishly followed him to the nearest motel and walked up to the front desk as Ben hid behind the building.

"What can I do for you, hun? She asked chewing on some gum.

"Room, please" Gwen leaned onto the desk in attempts to get her energy back. She began to type on her computer but stopped when she noticed how young the girl looked. "Ain't you a little too young to be out on your own?" the lady asked Gwen.

"…I'm with my boyfriend" Gwen informed but the woman was still suspicious.

"all right then… Room 6" She passed her the keys to the room. "thankyou" Gwen replied then walked out the place. Gwen then walked over to the motel room and unlocked it only to find Ben already in there. She walked over to the bed and collapsed down beside him. "I got some food" Ben cuddled her softly. Gwen smiled and closed her eyes. "Where are we gonna go?" Gwen asked concerned. "Don't know" Gwen got up and gave him a puppy dog concerned look.

"We'll find somewhere though. I'm sorry I dragged you out here" Ben looked down at the remote and switched on the t-v. "You know you can leave whenever you want. The police aren't looking for you anyway" Ben turned to the news and flicked noticed two drawings of themselves being displayed in the top right corner. This time the news anchor was a brunette woman most likely in her late 20's. Ben turned the television volume up to mid and stared at the t.v screen.

"Ben Tennyson better known yet as Ben 10, murderer of high school teacher Mr. Wright has evaded the police once again taking hostage a young redheaded girl police believe to be his cousin. Police are asking anyone who sees this couple to take the information straight to the police.

The reward for Ben 10 has also increased to $20,000" the lady smiled. "I'm Susana Rose saying goodnight America" Ben muted the t-v and turned towards his cousin. "Guess we're stuck in this together then, huh?" Gwen stared down at the wooden floorboards. "No" Ben stood up and walked over to the duffle bag, "you need to go" He opened the wooden door awaiting her to leave but she remained on the bed.

"Gwen, the police are looking for you; they think I kidnapped you" Ben walked over to her.

"I'm not leaving you here" She whispered clasping her own hands. Ben sighed and stared down at her. "Gwen, you need to go home. It was my mistake to drag you out here and get you into this mess. I had no right too" He clasped her hands tightly. "But you need to go back to grandpa and your parents" he got up and walked her to the door. "Here" He passed her a couple bucks. "It should be enough to get you back to Bellwood" Gwen remained in one spot.

"Gwen, go" He forced the money in her hands and pushed her out the door. She was stubborn and resilient but he was capable. Immediately he slammed the door behind her and locked the door then walked over to the window and watched his cousin look down at the money then look up at the lucent moon. She sighed then began to walk into the night and away from him.